Wembanyama shines in Paris as Spurs beat Pacers 140-110

By Canadian Press on January 23, 2025.

PARIS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama scored 30 points in his first NBA game on his native French soil, Devin Vassell added 25 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers 140-110 on Thursday night.

Wembanyama finished with 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocks for the Spurs. Harrison Barnes scored 20 for San Antonio, which won for only the second time in its last eight games.

The Spurs had a huge 57-31 edge in rebounding.

Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana with 24 points. Pascal Siakam added 18, Myles Turner scored 14 and Tyrese Haliburton and Obi Toppin finished with 13 each for the Pacers.

Indiana had won eight of its last nine contests.

TRAIL BLAZERS 100, MAGIC 79

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Anfernee Simons scored 21 points and the Portland Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to three with a victory over Orlando, spoiling the return of Magic forward Franz Wagner.

Toumani Canara added 16 points and six rebounds for Portland. Deni Avdija finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Jabari Walker had six steals in 19 minutes.

Wagner, who missed 20 games after tearing his oblique in early December, led Orlando with 20 points. Tristan Da Silva came off the bench with 16 points. Paolo Banchero had eight points and nine rebounds, but shot 1 for 14 with five turnovers.

Blazers guard Scoot Henderson fouled out with 6:12 left, having played 14 minutes.

RAPTORS 122, HAWKS 119

ATLANTA (AP) — Scottie Barnes had 25 points, including a key basket in the final minute, and Toronto picked up their second road win of the season with a victory over Atlanta.

Bruce Brown had 18 points, while Jacob Poeltl and Chris Boucher each had 17 in the opener of a two-game series in Atlanta.

The Hawks had a chance to tie with 2.7 seconds left, but good defense forced a 3-pointer by Onekya Okongwu at the buzzer that was an airball.

Bogdan Bogdanovic shook off a recent shooting slump to score 23 points and hit three of his five 3-pointers for the Hawks. He had missed his last 14 field goal attempts entering the game. Dyson Daniels had 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Hawks have lost three straight. They host Toronto again on Saturday.

Grady Dick and RJ Barrett scored 15 points apiece for the Raptors, who have won four of five.

BUCKS 125, HEAT 96

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Damian Lillard had 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Milwaukee overcame travel issues to beat Miami for their fifth straight victory.

Lillard had appeared to get his fourth career triple-double before leaving with 3:57 remaining, but the 10th rebound that had been credited to Lillard was changed.

The start was pushed back an hour due to the Bucks’ troubles getting out of New Orleans, which had a historic snowstorm Tuesday. The Bucks’ scheduled Wednesday game with the Pelicans was postponed, and their plane arrived in Milwaukee less than three hours before the start Thursday.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and 12 rebounds. Gary Trent Jr. scored a season-high 21 points and shot 7 of 10 on 3-point attempts.

Kel’el Ware had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami. Tyler Herro had 21 points and nine assists.

MAVERICKS 121, THUNDER 115

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Spencer Dinwiddie scored 28 points, and Dallas beat Oklahoma City.

P.J. Washington had 22 points and 19 rebounds and Kyrie Irving added 24 points for the Mavericks, who have been without Luka Doncic for nearly a month because of a left calf strain. Dallas has won three of the four meetings this season against a Thunder team that leads the Western Conference and only has eight losses all season.

Jalen Williams led Oklahoma City with 33 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named an All-Star starter earlier in the evening, scored 16 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points in a win over Utah on Wednesday, but made just 5 of his first 15 shots against Dallas before getting on track.

Gilgeous-Alexander did not play last time the teams met, when the Mavericks won 106-98 in Dallas on Jan. 17.

The Thunder led 62-60 at halftime, but Dallas took over in the third quarter and led by 13 at one point. Gilgeous-Alexander banked in a shot from the lane at the buzzer to cut Dallas’ lead to 91-83 heading into the fourth.

NUGGETS 132, KINGS 123

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had his fifth straight triple-double before the fourth quarter, finishing with 35 points, 22 rebounds and a season-high 17 assists to help Denver beat Sacramento.

Jokic has an NBA-leading 20 triple-doubles this season, 14 before the fourth quarter. He had 20 points and 20 rebounds before the end of the third quarter.

The Nuggets led by 22 at halftime and used a 14-5 run at the end of the third, capped by Jokic’s 66-foot heave at the buzzer, to take a 25-point lead.

Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 17 rebounds for Sacramento. The Kings lost for the third time in 13 games since Doug Christie took over as the interim coach.

The Kings scored the first 14 points of the fourth and got as close as 126-121.

The Associated Press